Many of us work with "to do" lists. Often they include short-term items like remember to buy toothpaste, or other chores that need to be done that day or that week. However, we also have an "inner to do list" which consists of steps along our life's journey. This week we bring you articles that offer a combination of both.

This week we look at expectations. While expectations are about the future, we usually have formed them based on past events, or past teachings. Thus we may be stuck in recreating old realities because our thoughts and beliefs and expectations are based on old dogma and old theories. We start out by looking at the expectations we have of...

Everyone wants to be happy, and while this can mean different things to different people, I think that a common thread is that we wish to be at peace with ourselves, and at peace with the world around us. Not always an easy task...

This week we question reality, or at least what we think is reality. We ask: What if everything you think you know is wrong? Things are not always what they seem, and things oftentimes have a purpose that is not visible to us at the time they occur.

Everything is always in a state of change. Even if something looks like it is not changing, it is. And the same goes with our own self... Our thoughts change, our attitudes change, our bodies change, and the world around us changes as well. This week we look at various aspects of transformation (change) starting with...

One thing we can be sure of is that life always presents us with twists and turns, choices to make, new directions to explore (or not), new discoveries to be made (or not)... It's always our choice as to how we proceed...

This week we look at change and progress. Many of us may have made resolutions at the start of the new year... and we may be reaching the point when the novelty has worn off and we need support in sticking to our desired changes.

This week we reflect on the interconnectivity of all things. As we recognize our oneness and how every single thing affects the whole, whether physically or emotionally, we come to the realization that we have arrived at...

As we enter into the new year, you may be starting the year with new resolve... to be healthier, to be happier, to be more organized, to be more loving, more forgiving, more successful, etc. etc. However, in order to progress into a new reality, we may have to let go of certain attachments or beliefs that have been dear to us. This week, our authors assist us in cleaning our slate so that we can start anew.

As we enter the last week before Christmas, many people are outwardly focused on what to buy, what to give, what to share. So this week, we at InnerSelf turn the focus to the inner. While still keeping the focus on giving and sharing, we speak about giving of ourselves and sharing love.

This week we look at the power of the heart, the power of love, whether it comes in human form or animal form or even scientific form. Love is all there is. Anything else is simply the absence of love. Our articles this week help us recenter in the power of the heart, and the power of love.

Perhaps the topic of this week's newsletter is best seen in the above graphic "Live Your Dream" and resumed in the title of Mitch Horowitz's article: "How to Make a Miracle"... We are reminded that we are the creators of our own daily miracles with the support and participation of the life force (aka God, Goddess, The Force, Universe, etc. etc.)

This week, in the US, it is Thanksgiving. While being grateful really needs to be a daily practice, having one day a year that highlights giving thanks can help us center ourselves and take note of everything we have to be grateful for. However, there are times where it may seem nearly impossible to be grateful due to circumstances we find ourselves in...

The title of one of our articles this week is "Reclaiming Your Voice and Fulfilling Your Potential" and that is indeed the theme of this week's edition of InnerSelf. We can reclaim our voice by voting as is strongly recommended in the article: "We Are Responsible For The Mess We Made... Now Let's Fix It" and in Robert Jennings' "The Un-united States Of America Part 3: The Day Of Reckoning Is Now".

Perhaps our key message this week is recapped in the title of this article: "Embracing The World: Being In The World Without Rejecting It". So many things in our world challenge us and we might, at first, choose to reject them or react with anger. Things like cancer, illness of any kind, fear, trauma, stress, death of a loved one, and a gazillion other challenges of earthly life. However...

This week we look at some of life's challenges, and bring you tools to traverse them more easily. The greatest challenge we face, unfortunately almost constantly, is "Negative Self-Talk". This habit can have serious repercussions as discussed in "Are We Literally What We Think?"...

This week we reflect on change. Benjamin Franklin wrote, in 1789 in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, "...in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes". However, I would disagree and say that the only thing we can be certain of is change. Nothing remains the same, ever. Everything changes...

This week we focus on letting go of the past. Sometimes that is done by first reconnecting with painful memories and rewriting them, and at other times, simply by closing cycles, shutting doors, ending chapters...

This week we reflect on authenticity. Trying to please others, reaching for someone else's goal for you, trying to "fit in"... none of this is authentic, and none of this brings happiness. Being authentic includes being authentically loving, learning to trust our intuition and telepathic communications, being true to our Self, and trusting that we are always guided to the right place at the right time.

This week we look at life through the lenses of science and spirituality. Every day we have a new opportunity to either continue on the path we are on, or to step onto a new path. While some may question whether such "esoteric sciences" as astrology, numerology, ESP, and healing energy are true science, the results often depend on our openness to new ideas, as well as being willing to accept alternative and non-traditional methods and beliefs.

This week we focus on relationships... with ourselves, with others, and with the world... and how we can heal and improve our connection in all of these interactions. We start with an author who exudes love and inner peace, Pierre Pradervand. He shares his method of healing himself and the world in "Blessing: A Way of Sending Love, Peace, Healing and Goodness to the World". We continue the journey with Barry Vissell who presents...

As we continue on our life's journey, at times we may wonder "what is going on?" This week we help shed light on your path. We start with "Finding The Doorway To Living A Most Exceptional Life" and continue to clear our own way by "Breaking Free Of Our Addictions".

This week in honor of August being National Happiness Month, we look at "what makes us happy" and the converse is of course "what makes us unhappy". And, the answer to both of these questions is the same. What? Yes, we make ourselves happy or unhappy by our choices, our attitudes, our thoughts, our judgments, our loving acceptance of other human beings, of ourselves, and of life itself.

This week we look at what is sometimes considered the darker side of things... pain - both emotional and physical, grieving and death, using dreams to heal from emotional pain, and then we move on to the next step, starting fresh in rebirth.

The theme that shows up in this week's featured articles is the process of "reflection, vision, and action". In order to have a vision, one must reflect on what one truly desires. And in order to have that vision become reality, we need to take action. Our authors support us in making our dreams reality.

This week we reflect on our habits... some that are unconscious (good ones like breathing) and the ones we may or may not be aware of (a.k.a. the "bad" ones). However, the good news is that all habits can be upgraded and/or changed to ones that support a happier and healthier lifestyle.

We constantly choose whether we sleep-walk through our life (successfully or not), or whether we traverse our life's journey with consciousness, making choices based on our inner truth and awareness. This week we discover...

It is said that the Chinese have an expression that is both a blessing and a curse: "May you live in interesting times". This week we look at how to traverse the "interesting" or "precariously balanced" times in our lives.

As I began working on this week's articles, I thought the theme was communication and relationships. But as the articles came together, I saw that the theme was actually "trusting through fear". Which of course does apply to communication and relationships, and so much more.

This week we reflect on the path to happiness. This path of the heart includes self-validation and self-compassion, generating happiness, and the willingness to heal and to be happy. You might say, but of course I'm willing to be happy, however...

This week we reflect on coming face-to-face with ourselves... on facing our suffering, discovering our intentions, clarifying our choices, and of course taking action towards the reality we wish to empower.

This week's featured articles look at our relationship with friends, aging parents, nature, our "partner" (whether married or not), and even our relationship with our past selves. The connection between all of these relationships is that all...

This week we look at being... in the flow, in the moment, in stillness, in life. Patience -- with yourself, with others, and with life itself -- is essential. This week's articles provide light and guidance for our journey...

This week we share some ways that our actions make a difference... from where we choose to place a tattoo (if we choose to get one), to identifying where our stressful thoughts come from and if they really belong to us, to connecting with where our traumas really come from and clearing them from our energetic space.

This week we bring you articles to assist in stepping out of the conditioning of our culture and explore different perspectives. We look at pain and how to move beyond it, we reflect on reincarnation, and we look at moving beyond the way of the ego to the path of spiritual will.

This week our theme is symbolism... how one thing means something other than the obvious, or brings a message other than its apparent one. We launch our symbolic journey with "May 2018: On The Brink Of…. But Not Quite Ready To Jump!" and then move on to the animal kingdom with "Receiving Symbolic Messages From Your Animals" and with...

One of the articles this week has in the title: " As Within, So Without" and that is the theme this week. Our authors share their path or their vision in hopes of sparking within you a recognition of your own truth and they provide methods and tools for you to arrive at your own "ah-ha" moments of "in-lightenment"...

As I focused on which articles beckoned to be included in this week's issue of InnerSelf, my conscious thought was that the focus was going to be Earth Day. While I am a firm believer that "every day should be Earth Day", this designated day gives us additional opportunity to reflect together on our love for our precious planet. However...

One could say that connection -- either the presence of, or lack thereof -- is the problem and the solution to all our ills. This week we look at our connections... connection to the All, to ourselves, to others, to Nature, to duality... and reflect on our search for harmony and balance.

This week we look at "hidden messages"... These are the messages from our unconscious beliefs, from our inner children, from our body, from our environment, and from our heart... And we discover that these messages are not really hidden as much as...

This newsletter is being released on April Fools Day... and its theme is that not only have we been fooled but we have fooled ourselves... not just today but for a long long time. Thus this week our authors help expose some of the tricks we've fallen for.

Things are not always as they seem... So even if you feel like you're about to get run over by a train, I guarantee you this is not the case. We can be grateful that things are not as they seem, because, yes, things seem to be crazy and definitely unsettling at times... but they are usually the first -- or one-thousandth -- step in a journey that we are taking...

“As above, so below, as within, so without, as the universe, so the soul…” This is the theme of this week's edition of InnerSelf. What is within us affects the outside, and what is outside affects the inside. This includes "non-tangible" or "non-touchable" things such as sound, the language of flowers, the energy of tattoos...

This week's edition of InnerSelf may be resumed in the title of one of the featured articles: "Musings on Beliefs, Opinions, Facts, Knowledge, and Truth". We reflect, with Charles Eisenstein, on our "stories", old and new, and with Anne Tucker on the decisions we make that lead us towards tomorrow and our many tomorrows.

Life is made of cycles... day and night, summer and winter, rest and action, sun and rain, ups and downs... Each aspect of the cycle is important and needed. Just as action is needed, action without inner renewal creates imbalance. This week we look at cycles and at the balance between "being" and "doing".

Balance. This week we focus on attaining balance. It seems that our whole world is also now in a state of seeking balance...yet not quite attaining it. Perhaps we're looking for balance (and love) in all the wrong places and in all the wrong ways...

This week we reflect on fear and how to be stronger than our fears. It seems that our "new and improved modern world" has brought us more things to be afraid of. We watch TV and discover numerous "reasons" to be afraid, we surf the internet and find more of the same, we hear of another person with cancer, or another shooting, or some other fearful event.

The theme this week is "seeing things differently"... which reminds me of the title of Wayne Dyer's book, You'll See It When You Believe It". Wayne flipped around the expression, I'll believe it when I see it, to the more "meta-physical" or quantum-energy-like saying, I'll see it when I believe it. focusing on the power of our thoughts and expectations.

The theme this week is "Who Are You, Really". I especially get such enjoyment from seeing how each article, selected intuitively with inner guidance or by Divine timing, supports the theme and deepens the path. As the articles come together for the new issue, the theme becomes clear...

This week we take a look at creativity. You might not think of yourself as a creative person. But the fact is that we are all creating every single moment of our day. Creativity doesn't need a paint brush. It starts with a thought, followed by a word or action...

As we approach the end of the year, we may have a desire to review our past and present, and reflect on our attitudes, beliefs, actions, and goals... May this newsletter's articles assist you in your journey...

The theme this week is "know thyself". This wise advice goes back centuries and probably millennia. Since the key to happiness and inner peace lies in knowing who we are, we bring you articles to assist you in this journey of discovery...

This week we dare take a look at our dark side, and also learn to befriend our shadow. As you scroll down through this week's articles, you will find the words fear, shadow, stress, manipulation, pain. Yet you also find the balance in the themes of kindness, love, prayer, compassion, vision, meditation, creating a better world, and choosing love over fear.

This week, in the US, is the week that is traditionally one for giving thanks... Of course, in order to have a life of fullness and joy, giving thanks needs to be a daily occurrence, not one limited to just one day, or one weekend. This week, we focus on many aspects of gratitude...

If I were to choose one word to summarize this week's featured articles, I would choose "within". We are being encouraged to look within to find solutions to our world's ills and to discover inner peace and happiness.

This week we peruse life from what is usually considered "the dark side" and look at life and death through a new perspective... We are being encouraged to step out of old beliefs, old limitations and patterns, and trust the...

You have probably heard the quote "we have met the enemy, and he is us". However, the other side of that truth is "we have met the solution, and he is us". This week, InnerSelf looks into the power of the heart to heal not only ourselves but the world around us. We start with acceptance which is a basic form of love, and so is being true to yourself. We move on to...

There is a Chinese curse (allegedly) that says "May you live in interesting times". I would definitely say that these are "interesting" times, and of course, they are also challenging. This week we look at how to handle these events in our lives.

Life has its ups and downs... this we all know. However, there is another aspect that we are not necessarily as familiar with as that is the concept of "as above, so below", or "as it is inside, so it is on the outside" (and vice versa). Our inner being and our outer world are a reflection of each other. This week we take a look at some of the inside-outside connections. We start with looking at...

Perhaps the theme of this week's newsletter is best resumed in the title of this article: "From Chaos to Order: Planning a New Life with New Habits". We start with Joyce Vissell sharing personal experiences and perspectives on the chaos of natural disasters that were transformed to order with...

While the "outside" world may have a tendency to focus on what's wrong, touting the latest disasters, the newest divorce, governmental trauma, etc., to maintain inner peace and a sense of balance, we must remember to also focus on what's right! And we start off this week by focusing on joy.

Many people, world-wide, are experiencing numerous challenges these days, more than usual it seems. Some of the challenges come from nature, illnesses, war, or other severally traumatic situations. Thus, this week, we look at ways to deal with trauma and hardships.

In order for the world to change, we must change. And in order to change, we must learn new ways of thinking, and of being. This requires a source of new knowledge, usually brought to us by a teacher in some form. This week we expand our horizon as to where we find the teachings that we need.

In order for things around us to change, we must change. This is not what we learned as children since everything then depended on our parents doing things for us. However, now that we are adults, we discover that we are the key to change. We start the new issue of InnerSelf with an excerpt from a brand-new book...

In this modern age, with all the tools of technology and instant communication at our disposal, we are exposed to many more stressful and traumatic events than our forefathers. This week, we bring you articles to help you through these experiences.

This week, as with every week, we look at different aspects of our life: the blessings and the challenges, and the things we can do to make our life more balanced. Many people feel like they are alone in this journey, yet we are never...

This week we look at how things (and people) are not always at they appear, and we see this first through the eyes of this week's lunar eclipse in "Life Under A Lunar Eclipse: Nothing Is Quite As It Seems..".

Life on earth is quite a dichotomy. We are in control of our life, yet we are not. We enjoy our existence, yet we don't. It's as if we are continually wavering between two extremes, two polarities, in somewhat of a free-fall. This week we look at the balancing act...

There are many expressions and idioms that suggest how to best deal with life. One that comes to mind is "when life throws you a curve ball, hit it out of the park". This week we look at various ways to deal with life's challenges and blessings...

This week we look at family. We all have one, or if we no longer do, we did at some point. Family influenced our early beliefs of life, and in many cases is still influencing our current beliefs, whether consciously or subconsciously.

When life seems to be taking us on a roller-coaster ride, we can remember that the way to keep from "losing it" is to retain our center. And if you've become confused and dizzy from all the ups and downs going on around you, perhaps you will benefit from...

Relationship! We all are involved in one, even if it's only a relationship with our own self. How we deal with that relationship, as well as all others, creates a basis for our life experience. It's not always smooth sailing. This week we look at the essence behind our connection with our own self, our Self (with a capital S), and with others.

You may be familiar with the expression that says you can't give from an empty basket. This, of course, refers to taking care of yourself before you can give of yourself to others. This week we bring you articles to help you replenish your energy and "refill your basket".

While we may all have hopes and dreams for our future, the basis for that future lies in our actions today, right now, in this moment. In order to assist with that daily journey, this week we look at...

As Bob Dylan famously wrote over 50 years ago, the times they are a-changin'. However, these days, a lot of things have the appearance of going in the direction opposite that which we might desire or even prefer. It could be easy to fall into despair or at least a feeling of helplessness. This week, we look at some of our options...

This week's theme focuses on "who you are". Barbara Savin shares "You Are Already A Healer: It Is Time To Reclaim Who You Are" while Marc Allen reminds us of our innate power in "Karma and Politics: It's Time To Embrace Our Power" and Rabbi Daniel Cohen offers a path of reflection in "What Will They Say About You When You're Gone?"

This week we delve into the realms of the healing powers of nature and we look at what it takes to be a champion. We also reflect on parenting, on how to communicate with a loved one who is preparing to die, and many more topics.

We dream, we hope, we seek, we find, we enjoy... and sometimes we don't. These are the things life is made of. The ups and downs and the highs and lows. This week's articles assist us in moving forward with ease and joy on our daily path...

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